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National Center for Atmospheric Research

Contact:
Anatta
UCAR Communications
Telephone: (303) 497-8604
E-mail: anatta{at}ucar.edu

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 4, 2003

2003-02

New Images from Space Spotlight Asian, Australian Pollution
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BOULDER -- A visualization of satellite data captured and processed 
January 1-20, 2003, by scientists at the National Center for 
Atmospheric Research (NCAR) shows heavy pollution from China and 
Southeast Asia blowing out over the Pacific Ocean. The near-real time 
capability represented by the image is a breakthrough for NCAR team 
members working with the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere
(MOPITT) instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite. 

The image shows levels of carbon monoxide (CO) in a region where 
pollution tends to begin increasing around January and continue rising 
through the spring. The sources include emissions from motor vehicles 
and industrial activities, the burning of wood and other vegetation 
for heat, and fires set to clear land for agriculture. Scientists are
using satellite measurements along with data gathered in field 
campaigns to begin to untangle the different pollution sources.

In a second image, pollution from bush fires burning in southeast 
Australia is clearly visible. The data were captured above the fires 
January 15-20. The image shows levels of CO released by the fires. 
Because CO persists in the atmosphere for several weeks, it can be 
used to trace the path of pollution plumes above the fires as the 
plumes drift out thousands of miles into the usually pristine air over 
the southern Pacific Ocean. 

"We're very pleased to unveil this new ability to provide images very 
soon after the satellite observations are made," says John Gille, NCAR 
scientist and U.S. principal investigator for MOPITT. "This means our 
data can be helpful in pollution situations as they unfold."

CO gas is a pollutant in its own right and a useful tracer for others, 
such as ozone at or near ground level. CO can also be used to 
calculate the level of pollutant-cleansing chemicals in the 
atmosphere, such as the hydroxyl radical.  When CO levels are high, 
the level of hydroxyl radical is usually lower and fewer pollutants 
are removed from the atmosphere.

"CO is involved in much of the chemistry of the lower atmosphere, and 
it's now one of the few gases that we can measure from space, thanks 
to MOPITT," says NCAR scientist David Edwards. "The data give us a new 
window on chemical processes affecting the ability of the atmosphere 
to clean itself." 

In the color images, the amount of CO mixed into a given quantity of 
air is represented as parts per billion by volume (ppbv). The 
concentrations range as high as 205 ppbv and as low as 50 ppbv. White 
areas indicate no data were collected, either due to lingering cloud 
cover or because the area falls in the gaps between MOPITT's
orbit-path views. MOPITT is a project of NCAR and the University of 
Toronto, with funding from NASA and the Canadian Space Agency.

On the Web:

* Carbon monoxide over Houston and Galveston Bay, September
  2002
  http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages
               /images.php3?img_id=10907
* Animation of MOPITT's orbital path
  http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/viewrecord?111
* NCAR MOPITT team research
  http://www.eos.ucar.edu/mopitt/home.html

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